Apple unveiled a new smart home hub called HomeView on Tuesday, part of a broader product push aimed at using its upgraded Siri AI assistant to gain ground in the competitive connected-home device market.
The device, which starts at US$299 and begins shipping Nov. 13, features a 7-inch screen designed to be mounted on a wall or placed on a table. It uses facial recognition to identify which household member is using it, displaying personalized information from apps including Messages, Photos, Calendar and Reminders through Apple Intelligence. The device can also be used for FaceTime calls, as a digital photo frame, and as a smart home dashboard for viewing camera feeds, adjusting thermostats or locking doors. It is built around an Apple A18 chip and supports up to six users.
Apple’s chief marketer, Greg Joswiak, said in a statement that the device “recognizes your face to shift from a household screen to your own experience, fills the room with incredible sound, keeps you connected to the people who matter most with FaceTime, and makes it easy to control your smart home.”
A Crowded Market
HomeView enters a market where Apple has worked for roughly a decade without major success, competing against Amazon’s Echo Show 8, priced at US$199.99, and Google’s Nest Hub, priced at US$99.99. Apple is also facing newer competition from AI-focused firms such as OpenAI, which have their own hardware ambitions, as well as Amazon’s recent launch of premium tablets.
PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said Apple “needs to demonstrate that its AI capabilities can deliver meaningful benefits beyond basic voice commands, simplifying everyday tasks and bringing greater intelligence to the home,” adding that reliability, trust and ease of use would determine whether consumers adopt the features. Pescatore also said Apple “has the brand, technology and loyal customers to make a serious impact, but it is playing catch-up with rivals that have a far stronger presence.”
Counterpoint Research director Mohit Agrawal said most smart speakers and hubs currently in homes are low-cost devices that cannot run AI locally, making them “ripe for replacement,” and that Amazon and Google have only recently begun refreshing their own hardware lines, leaving what he called an open upgrade cycle that Apple is seeking to win.
New Apple TV, HomePod and Partner Hardware
Alongside HomeView, Apple also introduced an updated Apple TV 4K, now priced at US$299, more than double the US$199 starting price of its predecessor, putting it in line with Nvidia’s Shield TV Pro while undercutting none of the roughly US$200-or-less offerings from Amazon, Google and Roku. The new remote can emit a sound if lost. Apple’s HomePod Mini speaker now comes in new colours and costs US$149, up slightly from its previous US$129 price.
Apple also introduced a range of accessories, including doorbells, cameras, locks and thermostats made by LG Electronics and Schneider Electric and designed in collaboration with Apple. CCS Insight’s Ben Wood said the partnerships marked a departure from Apple’s usual preference for controlling its hardware fully, but noted that “it appears like there has been very deep collaboration between Apple and these partners to ensure the design, engineering and experience closely match what users would expect from Apple.” Apple’s Kaiann Drance, vice president of product marketing for home products, told Reuters the new devices can be added to a household with a single tap, similar to how AirPods pair with other Apple devices.
HomeView will not be sold in the European Union because Siri AI remains unavailable there due to EU regulations, Apple said.
Investor and Revenue Context
Tuesday’s event was the second product launch under new CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook in September, following last month’s announcement of new iPhone models, including a foldable device called the Duo priced at nearly $2,000.
Apple’s Wearables, Home, and Accessories category — which includes Apple TV, HomePods, AirPods and the Apple Watch — reported $7.88 billion in sales in the quarter ended June, about 7 per cent of the company’s total revenue. Melissa Otto, head of Visible Alpha Research at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said Apple’s objective appears to be driving higher-margin services revenue through products like Apple TV, Apple Pay and iCloud, noting that Apple’s 2027 services revenue is forecast to rise 12 per cent to US$138 billion.
Apple shares rose about 1 to 1.6 per cent in Tuesday trading after touching a record earlier in the day. The stock has gained 25 per cent so far this year, outperforming the Nasdaq 100’s 21 per cent gain over the same period.
The launch comes as the broader consumer electronics industry contends with price increases and softer demand tied to shortages of memory and storage components, with Cook previously saying memory costs for Apple had become unsustainable.
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